Improvement in coating sheet-iron with zinc or with alloys of zinc



3Sheets-Sheet1. R. HEATHPIELD.

Coating Sheet-Iron with Zinc or with Alloys of Zinc.

N0. 211.905. Patented Feb. 4,1879.

m @M/xw/ fl-PETERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAFKER. WASHINGTON, D O.

3 Sheets-Sheet. R. HEATHFI ELD.

Coating Sheet-Iron with Zinc or with Alloys of Zinc.

No. 211,905. Patented Feb. 4,1879.

3- sneets shet 3. 1

R. HEATH FIELD. Coating Sheet-Iron with Zinc or with Alloys of Zinc.

No.21L905. Patented Feb. 4. 1879.

N. PErERs, FHOTDLUTHOGRAFHER, WASHINGTON. D. O.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFIGE.

RICHARD HEATHFIELD, OF BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN COATING SHEET-IRON WITH ZINC OR WITH ALLOYS 0F ZINC,

Specification forming part ofLetters Patent No. 211,905, dated February4, 1879; application filed October 30, 1878.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD HEATHFIELD, of Birmingham, in the county ofWarwick, England, manufacturer, have invented a new and usefulimprovement or improvements in apparatus or machinery used ingalvanizing sheet-iron or coating sheet-iron with zinc or alloys ofzinc, which improvements are fully set forth in the followingspecification, reference being had to the accompanying draw- 11] gs.

In the ordinary method of galvanizing sheets of iron, the sheets, afterhaving been properly cleaned, are passed through a bath of melted zincor alloy of zinc, each sheet being either guided to and passed between apair of plain rolls, or dipped, without the use of rolls, under a bar inthe pot, as is well understood. The coated sheet after passing frombetween the rolls, or under the bar, is guided to the surface of thebath, when it is taken hold of and removed by the tongs of the attendantworkman.

My invention consists in placing an additional pair of rolls in the bathof melted metal in the path of the sheet as it passes from the principalor ordinary rolls, whereby the coating of the sheet is much improved.

The axes of the additional pair of rolls are situated in a plain atright angles, or nearly at right angles, to the plane of the ordinaryrolls used in galvanizing iron, the said additional rolls being situateda short distance below the surface of the melted metal.

Although in practice I have found that one additional pair of rolls issuflicient for ordinary purposes, yet two or more additional pairs ofrolls placed in a plane at right angles, or nearlyat right angles, tothe plane of the ordinary rolls may be employed where it is deemeddesirable.

I will now proceed to describe, with refer ence to the accompanyingdrawings, the manner in which my invention may be performed.

Figure 1 represents in plan, and Fig. 2 in transverse vertical sectiontaken on the line A B of Fig. 1, apparatus or machinery to be used ingalvanizing sheet iron, or coating sheet-iron with zinc or alloys ofzinc, the said apparatus or machinery containing my invention. Thesection Fig. 2 is drawn to a larger scale than Fig. 1.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in both figures.

0 c is the pot or bath containing the melted zinc or alloy of zinc, thesaid pot or bath being heated in the ordinary way by the flues d d. e fis the ordinary plain pair of rolls in the said pot or bath, situatedone over the other, the distance between the said rolls 0 f beingadjusted by the screws 9 g, acting on the bean ings of the upper roll,6. h i is a guide for guiding the sheet between the ordinary pair ofrolls 6 f, and also between the second or additional pair of rolls, isZ. The axes of the said additional pair of rolls 70 l are situated in aplane at right angles to the plane of the ordinary pair of rolls 0 f, asbest seen in the section Fig.2; but the acting or cylindrical surfacesof the two pairs of rolls, e f and 70 l, are situated parallel to oneanother, as seen in Fig. 1.

The distance between the additional pair of rolls k l is adjusted by thefollowing arrangement of parts, best seen in the side elevation, Fig. 3,and plan in Fig. 4: At each end of the rolls 1 is a vertical axis, m,carrying at its lower end a cam, a, (see Fig. 4,) which presses againstthe bearing P, in which the said roll 1 works. The cam-axis m has at itstop a ratchet-wheel, p, with which a pawl, g, on the framing of the potor bath engages and prevents the back rotation of the said can1- axis.By turning the camaxes m mby means of a lever, 4", (indicated in dottedlines in Fig. 1,) fitted on the square ends of the said axes, the cams aa may be rotated more or less, andthe distance of the roll Z from theroll is determined with great nicety, the cam-axes being held in theiradjusted positions by the pawls q q engaging with the ratchet-wheels pp.I do not, however, limit myself to any particu lar mechanism foradjusting the rolls k l, as they may be forced together by levers orother equivalent contrivance instead of by the ar= rangement of partsshown.

The two pairs of rolls e f and k l are driven in the mannerrepresentedinFig. 1. A toothed wheel on the driving shaft gears with the toothedwheels above it. The inner end of the shaft 8 of the wheel 6 carries alarge toothed wheel, t, which gears with pinions below it on the axes ofthe rolls 0 70, respectively. The pair of rolls 0 f is geared togetherby the pinions at a, and the pair of rolls kl is geared together by thepinions at v. The additional pair of rolls k Z is situated at such aheight that the gripe of the rollsthat is, the plane in which the sheetof iron is operated upon by the rolls is situated-isa short distanceabove or below the surface of the melted metal.

The sheet of iron to be galvanized is passed by the workman to the guideh, and from thence through the ordinary pair of rolls 0 f, by which itis seized and'carried through the said rolls to the curved guide 2', bywhich it is guided to the additional pair of rolls k 1, after passingthrough which rolls kl the plate is taken hold of and removed by thetongs of the workman.

The manner in which the sheet of iron is passed through the two pairs ofrolls cf and k l and the guides h i is represented in Fig. .2, whereasheet in the act of being galvanized is marked :10. A vertical stop, 10,is fixed in the position represented in Fig. 2 to prevent the sheet ofmetal returning to the side at which it was introduced should theworkman fail to seize it with his tongs as it rises from the pot.

Instead of the single pair of additional rolls k I, as represented inthe drawings, two or more pairs of rolls, the axes of which are situatedin planes at right angles to the planes in which the axes of theordinary pair of rolls are situated, may be employed.

By combining one or more additional pairs of rolls with the pair ofrolls ordinarily employed, the axes of the said additional rolls beingarranged with respect to the axes of the ordinary pair of rolls in themanner hereinbefore described and illustrated, a very uniform and smoothface is given to the coated sheet.

Having now described the nature of my invention and the manner in whichthe same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim asmy invention- In an apparatus for galvanizing or coating sheet-iron withmetal, the combination, with the basin in which a bath of melted zinc,zinc alloy, or coating metal is maintained, and the pair of submergedrolls ordinarily used, of an addi tional pair or pairs of rolls, alsosubmerged, and having their axes in planes at right angles to the planein which the axes of the ordinary rolls lie, and guides arrangedrelatively, as shown, so that the sheetof iron may pass directly fromsuch ordinary to such additional rolls, substantially as set forth.

RICHARD HEATHFIEL'D. [L.

Witnesses:

GEORGE SHAW, RICHARD SKERRETT,

Both 0f37 Temple Street, Birmingham.

